“The fact of the matter is, we had to go to Winnipeg anyway”, he said. Byfuglien switched from defense to forward for the Blackhawks and scored three game-winning goals in a sweep of San Jose in the Western Conference finals for the franchise’s first Stanley Cup Final since 1992.
Advertisement
The Jets meanwhile are flying high after a convincing win in Nashville in game five and can book their spot into the West finals against the Vegas Golden Knights if they can outlast the Predators in what should be an exciting contest in Winnipeg on Monday.
“He’s a young player used to putting the puck in the net, and when it doesn’t happen right away in your first taste of playoff action, it can be tough to stay with it”. But his confidence hasn’t wavered a bit. Overall, he posted a rock-solid.927 SP, 2.31 goals-against average and eight shutouts this past season, but following a loss he managed a.934 SP and a 17-4 post-loss record.
Blake Wheeler said the team shares every drop of its success with its supporters. “That set him up, I thought, for the rest of the game”.
“The power play is probably just a microcosm of the way we played”, Winnipeg centre Paul Stastny said. “We knew right after that game that we’re built for this”.
“When there’s nerves, there’s not as much of that”.
“I think we need to recognize that and understand when we’re all on the same page, that’s how we can execute on a daily basis”. His fourth goal of the playoffs was assisted by Roman Josi and Ryan Johansen and the Predators had an early one goal lead. Nashville goaltender Pekka Rinne was once again strong with a 34-save shutout, but the Predators also received an outstanding effort from their penalty-killing unit, which went four-for-four, and their top line.
The win backs up the claim from P.K. Subban who guaranteed there would be a return to “smashville” for the game 7.
The Jets are now 1-1 in elimination games in these Stanley Cup playoffs, defeating the Minnesota Wild 5-0 in Game 5 of the opening-round series and losing on Monday.
The extra day before Game 7 is due to a Justin Timberlake concert at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena on Wednesday night.
There are two kinds of hockey players at this time of year.
Connor Hellebuyck stopped 25 shots for the Jets, who will look to rebound in a punch/counter-punch affair that has seen the visiting team win four times and neither club grab consecutive victories. Forsberg then somehow fought off Ben Chiarot as he fit a shot past Hellebuyck moments before he slid into the goal himself. The Bolts got a boost from Steven Stamkos, netting a goal in his second straight game that put their series lead at 3-1.
Nashville gave the Jets three power-play chances in the first period but killed each with little trouble. Connor made it 4-1 with a wrister from the slot with just under three minutes to go. Perreault capped the scoring at 6:23 to chase Rinne for the second time this series.
Winnipeg won Game 5 in Nashville 6-2 and now have the chance to advance to the Western Conference final in front of their home fans.
“You tell your hockey team what you want from them”, Maurice said of his message ahead of Saturday. It’s the best group of guys I’ve ever played with.
Want more in-depth features and expert analysis on the game you love? . It’s not casual by any means. Game six has the potential to be epic… it is also going to be a late one so brew up the coffee as the puck won’t go down until around 8:45pm.
Advertisement
Rolapp adds that in addition to giving the Nashville firm a chance to watch “the unbelievable Winnipeg Whiteouts on TV”, the Preds-Jets series has also provided a great opportunity to get to know TDS.
